Lifesaving appliance



Nov. 1, 1938. M. A. ANToGNAzzl LIFESAVING .APPLIANCE Original Filed April 16, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENToR. M. A. ANToGNAzzl BY cwA/*WTORNEx/s.

Nov. 1, 1938.

M. A. ANToGNzzI LIFESAVING APPLIANGE Original Filed April 16, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheetl 2 v IN1/EN TOR.

MAANTOQNAZZI BY r "UW ATTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 1, 1938 UNITED STATE-s PATENTFOFFLCE v 2,135,095 'g LIFESAVING APPLIANCE Marco Aurelio Antognazzi, Rosario de Santa Fe, Argentina Application April 16, 1937, Serial No. 137,345. Renewed September 21, 1938. In Argentina January 20, 1937 1 claim. (C1. 9-19) Another object of the invention is toV provide a life-saving appliance comprising an expansble` pneumatic chamber in communication with va source of gas for inilating said chamber, said source being provided with means operable from without to cause gas to flow from said so'urce to said chamber and inate the latter to a sufcient degree to keep the wearer of the devicer aoat with his head above water.

A further object oi theinvention is to provide a life-saving appliance comprising an inflatablev pneumatic chamber, a source of inflating gas communicating with said chamber and means actuable from without in order normally'to interrupt said communication, said pneumatic chamber being constructed to form a part-#for example the shoulder-straps or belt-of a bathing costume and said source being of such dimensions and weight as to enable it to be secured to the costume without incommoding the wearer.

A further object of the invention is to provide a life-saving device comprising an inilatable pneumatic chamber adapted to be worn on the person and communicating with a container containing a gas under pressure the communication between said chamber and said container being effected by means oi a closed passage-way having a lateral opening into which the mouth of the container is adapted to protrude, means being provided in said passage-way for piercing the seal of the container and further means operable from without being provided for moving said container towards said seal-piercing means. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a life-saving appliance of the kind hereinbefore described in which the source of gas is constituted by a receptacle having two compartments containing separately chemical reagents which, when mixed, will readily -give off a suflicient quantity of gas, said compartments being separated by a partition wall comprising a normally closed valve means and one of said compartments being formed at least in part of resilient material s o that under sunicient external pressure it may collapse, without breaking and thereby cause said valve to unseat to permit said reagents to mix. 5 Another object of the present invention is to provide a life-saving device of the type just described in which, however, both compartments havesubstantially rigid walls and one of said compartments is provided with springontrolled means operable from without to eiect unseating of the valve in the partition wall.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal'v section of one of the preferredforms o1 the source of gas showing its 15;

connection to the pneumatic chamber.

Fig. 2 is a section similar to that of Fig. 1 of an alternative form of the source of gas.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of a further modication of the'source of gas. 20

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of the complete life-saving appliance designed as a belt,

and f Figs. 5 and 6 arek illustrations of the device incorporated in bathing costumes'.

vWith particular .reference to Figs. 1, 4 and 6 my novel life-saving device comprises an inflatable pneumatic chamber IU which may take the form ci a belt `as shown in Fig. 4 or of a belt and shoulder-straps as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, said chamber being made fof some elastic material as, for example, vulcanized rubber, which may if desired be covered with fabric, as forexample when. said chamber is incorporated in the bathing costume. VAt one or more points there 35 is attached to said chamber by a leak-proof connection such as that shown at I2 in the drawings, a source I4 of gas which, in the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, consists of a bottle I6 of the type used for containing gas under pressure, said bottle being surrounded by a protective casing I8 and having a seal 20 tted in its neck.

The upper end of the casing I8, i. e. the end at which the mouth of the bottle is located is hermetically closed by means of an end cover 22 having a depending ange 23 and an internal partition 26 between which and the end wall 24 there is formed a passage-way 28 which communicates directly with the bore 30 of the main member I2 of the connection to the pneumatic chamber I0', the female member of said connection being preferably formed by a laterally projecting boss 32 of the end cover 22. The partition 2E is centrally perforated to receive the neck of the bottle I6 and thus provides a lateral opening 21 communicating with said passage-way 28. 55

will take place whereby acetylene gas is given off.

The partition 26 comprises a rubber portion 29 intended to grip rmly the neck of the bottle I6 while allowing of a certain amount of axial movement.

Opposite the lateral opening 29 there is secured to the end-Wall 24 a seal-piercer 34, and the lower end of the casing I8 carries a plunger or push-button device 3| upon which the bottom of the bottle I6 is adapted to rest. The device is assembled by pushing the neck of the charged and sealed bottle I6 into the opening 29 until the seal just comes into Contact with the piercer 34, whereupon the casing I8 is screwed into the ange 23. In case of danger, the wearer need only press up the button 3| until the piercer 34 has perforated the seal, whereupon the gaseous contents of the bottle will escape through the broken seal into passage 28 and thence through f which in this embodiment is formed by abulb of rubber or the like material suitably secured to the end of compartment 38.

From the partition wall 36 which has a central perforation 44 there extends upwardly into compartment 38 a perforated conduit 46, the end of which adjacent the partition wall is enlarged to accommodate a spring 48 which normally urges a closure plate 50 against said partition wall 36 to cover said central perforation 34.

The two compartments are filled separately with chemical substances which, when brought into contact will readily give off considerable volumes of gas. Thus for example, compartment 38 may be filled with calcium carbide as indicated at 52 in which event compartment 42 will be lled with water as shown at 54. Upon compressing the bulb ofcompartment 42 the water will lift plate 50 against the action of spring 4B and will penetrate by way of conduit 46 into compartment 38 in which the well-known reaction This gas passes upwardly through the lter plate 4I] into the passage-way 28 and thence into the pneumatic chamber I0. The purpose of the filter plate is to prevent the entrance into the pneumatic chamber of any spray or ne particles of water which may be carried up by the gas.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 3 the lower compartment 42a is formed by a prolongation of the rigid wall of the compartment IGa below the partition wall 36, and is hermetically closed by an'end-cap 56 which carries centrally a pushbutton 58between which and the partition wall 36 a compression spring 60 is located. The pushbutton comprises a plunger 62 which is a piston fit in the compartment 42a. The spring 66 normally holds the push-button and the plunger in their position furthest from the partition wall 36 and thus a space is provided to contain the second reagent 54. Upon depressing the pushbutton the plunger 62 exerts pressure on the liquid reagent 54 and thus on closure plate 50 which will as before be unseated so as to allow the liquid reagent to enter the upper compartment.

I claim:

A life-saving appliance of the type described comprising a pneumatic chamber, an end cover having a dependingfiange, a transverse gas-permeable partition in said end cover and spaced from the end-wall thereof to define a passageway, a hermetic coupling connecting said end cover to said chamber and comprising a duct communicating with said passage-way, a container detachably secured to said depending ange, a partition wall dividing said container into upper and lower compartments, an opening in said partition wall, a perforated conduit located over said opening and extending from said partition wall into said upper compartment, said conduit having its end adjacent said partition wall enlarged, a closure plate normally covering said opening and pressed against said partition wall by a spring housed in said enlarged end, said container having a rigid wall on the same side of the partition wall as said conduit and an elastic wall on the other side of said partition wall and containing separately in the upper and lower compartments chemical reagents which when mixed with evolve a sufficient amount of gas to inflate said pneumatic chamber.

M. A. ANTOGNAZZI. 

